


The Stepmother

by happylikeafool



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Day 5, F/F, Fluff, Swan Queen Week Summer 2017, warning for brief reference to past homophobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-13
Updated: 2017-07-13
Packaged: 2018-12-01 20:33:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11494224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/happylikeafool/pseuds/happylikeafool
Summary: Henry was six years old when Emma met him for the first time.He was six years old, obsessed with dinosaurs and the Avengers, and he already had two mothers - Regina and Marian, the most bizarrely amicable divorced couple Emma had ever met.It did not go well.Or how Emma became Henry's stepmother.





	The Stepmother

**Author's Note:**

> Warning for brief reference to past homophobia

Henry was six years old when Emma met him for the first time.

 

He was six years old, obsessed with dinosaurs and the Avengers, and he already had two mothers - Regina and Marian, the most bizarrely amicable divorced couple Emma had ever met.

 

It did not go well.

 

xxxxxx

 

When Emma herself was six years old she’d lived with this strict Catholic family.

 

They’d gone to church every Sunday and Emma had sat on a hard pew and stared and stared and stared at the pretty stained glass windows, fascinated by the way the sun shone through them.

 

She could remember being fascinated by the priest as well. Could remember asking that foster father, “Does he get to just live here? Forever?”

 

“Yes. The church is his home. God is his family,” that foster father had said.

 

And Emma had decided right then, “I'm going to be a priest when I grow up,” because at six there’d been nothing more appealing to her than a place where she could live forever that had pretty windows.

 

But the foster father had frowned, “You can't be.”

 

“Why not?” Emma had asked curiously.

 

“Because you're a girl.”

 

That same family had had three _real_ kids. Two boys and a girl. They’d all been older than Emma, teenagers, but they'd been nice enough. The girl had even let Emma play with her old toys. She had an entire bin full of Barbies. And, unlike most of the previous foster homes Emma had been in, where Barbies were missing arms and legs and hair and heads, these barbies had all been well taken care of.

 

For all those Barbies, there'd only been one Ken doll. So when Emma had played wedding, Ken’s role had been fixed. Girls could not be priests, after all.

 

“What are you doing?” the foster mother had snapped one day, walking in on Emma as she had the Barbie brides kiss each other.

 

“They're getting married. They're going to live happily ever after,” Emma had beamed.

 

“People like _you_ don't get happily ever afters,” the foster mother had hissed and Emma's smile had faded.

 

Emma's social worker had shown up to get her the next day.

 

She hadn't understood until much later that that foster mother probably hadn't meant unloved orphans when she'd said _people like you._

 

But even after Emma was old enough to understand that that foster mother knew absolutely nothing - about unloved orphans _or_ women who loved women - she still wondered if maybe she'd been right. Not about people in general but about Emma specifically. Because it certainly felt like happily ever after wasn't in the cards for her. Time after time it seemed to be proved true.

 

It made her wary any time she was even a little bit happy. Like the other shoe was just waiting to drop.

 

And with Regina, well, Emma had never been so happy in her entire life.

 

xxxxxx

 

Emma and Regina had been dating two months when Regina suggested it might be time for Emma to meet Henry.

 

It was a Big Step.

 

Regina had said from the beginning that meeting Henry was only for serious relationships, relationships that could foreseeably last forever - this was the agreement she and Marian had. And, well, Emma had never imagined anyone wanting her around as long as forever, so she had just assumed she would _never_ get to meet Henry.

 

Regina had brought it up over lunch at her office and Emma had choked on her grilled cheese, coughing for several minutes before she got control of herself.

 

Regina hadn't been sure how to react to that and she'd eyed Emma hesitantly, lips pursed, as she'd said, “If you don't want to meet Henry, just say so.”

 

“I do,” Emma had insisted immediately, earnestly. And she did. She really, really did. Even if meeting Henry also sort of terrified her. Like really, really terrified her.

 

And, so, here she was now, sitting across from six year old Henry in the living room of Regina’s home, her knee bouncing up and down and up and down and up and down nervously.

 

The boy in question had his arms crossed and a permanent scowl plastered on his face. “Why couldn't Mama stay for dinner?” he demanded.

 

“ _Henry_ ,” Regina sighed, sounding exasperated, as if this wasn't the first time they'd had this argument.

 

Henry’s scowl only got deeper, his eyebrows scrunching together until they formed one line.

 

Emma's knee continued to bounce up and down until Regina reached over and placed a hand on it to still the motion. Emma swallowed thickly, running a hand through her hair. She hadn't brought a gift because she didn't want it to seem like she was trying to bribe the boy into liking her but now she was wondering if that had been the wrong decision.

 

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Emma tried, “So Henry, your mom tells me you like dinosaurs.”

 

Still scowling, Henry shrugged noncommittally.

 

Trying to not be deterred by the non-response, Emma continued, “There's this museum in Boston that has some great dinosaur stuff. Maybe we could go sometime?”

 

“I don't want to go with _you_ ,” Henry snapped angrily.

 

“ _Henry_ ,” Regina hissed.

 

Emma held up her hand to stop whatever else Regina was going to say. “No, it's okay,” she said, “Henry doesn't know me. It's okay for him to not want to go somewhere with me.” Anger and distrust of someone new were emotions Emma could actually relate to - even if at six her issues with anger and distrust had been founded in something much different than Henry’s.

 

Emma looked away from Regina and back over at Henry, “Tell you what. If once we get to know each other better, you change your mind about going to the museum. You just say the word.”

 

Henry didn't say anything.

 

xxxxxx

 

The rest of the night didn’t go much better and by the time Regina was leading Henry upstairs to tuck him in, Emma's stomach was in knots.

 

Sitting on the couch in the living room, Emma waited nervously for Regina to come back downstairs from putting Henry to bed.

 

She’d failed the kid test miserably, which she was pretty sure meant that this was where the best two months of her life were going to end. And she couldn’t help but think of the foster mother who had told her she wouldn’t get a happily ever after.

 

She tried to tell herself that it would be okay. That even without Regina as her girlfriend things could still be _good_. She would still have a pretty great job and the friends she'd made since moving to Storybrooke four months ago - Graham and David and Mulan at the station, Ruby at the diner.

 

It would all be fine. Or maybe it wouldn't be. But she could just resign from the Sheriff's Department, pack up her stuff and move back to Boston. Four months staying put in one place was pushing it for her anyway.

 

Her racing thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Regina’s heels on the stairs and she looked up.

 

“You're still here,” Regina sounded surprised as she descended the staircase.

 

This was it, the other shoe dropping. The knots in Emma's stomach twisted tighter and she wondered if she might be actually physically ill. She swallowed hard, asking quietly, “Should I have left?”

 

Regina walked the rest of the way down the stairs, moving over to the couch and taking a seat beside Emma. She studied her curiously a long moment before she said, “I just thought Henry might have scared you away.”

 

“Oh,” Emma shrugged, fidgeting uncertainly, “No...he didn't.”

 

“Good,” Regina smiled, looking genuinely pleased.

 

Emma couldn't help the flicker of hope in her chest at that. Maybe Regina wasn't going to break up with her after all? “Really?” she asked, hating how uncertain she sounded.

 

Regina reached over and took one of Emma's hand, squeezing gently. Emma supposed her fear must be transparent, because Regina asked, “Did you think I was just going to break up with you because tonight didn't go as smoothly as we'd hoped?”

 

Emma looked down at the ground, her hair falling forward like a veil, shielding her from Regina’s probing eyes, as she mumbled sheepishly, “Kind of?”

 

Regina sighed softly, reaching over with her free hand to brush Emma's hair away from her face, tucking some of it tenderly behind her ear. “Well I'm not,” she said firmly, “So stop worrying.”

 

Emma exhaled a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She tilted her head slowly, looking back at Regina. “You said he would like me.” The words were practically a whisper.

 

“I have to admit, he was less receptive than I thought he would be,” Regina sighed, looking away from Emma and across the room, as if lost in thought, “You know, sometimes I think it would be easier if Marian and I fought all time. Then at least maybe it would be easier for Henry to understand that we aren't ever going to get back together.”

 

“It wouldn't actually be easier,” Emma squeezed Regina’s hand, “He'd just feel in the middle. And you'd be angry...and tired. Being angry all the time is tiring.”

 

Regina looked back over at Emma, deep brown eyes locking with hers. “I know,” she finally conceded.

 

Emma gave her a lopsided smile, one side of her mouth tugging upwards. After a beat she sighed woefully, “He's not going to hate me forever is he?”

 

“He won’t,” Regina assured her, “He’ll warm up to you, eventually.”

 

“I hope so,” Emma sighed again.

 

“He will,” Regina repeated. “You _are_ very easy to love,” she added with a slow smirk.

 

Emma laughed, her eyebrows waggling teasingly, “Oh really?”

 

“Yes,” Regina nodded seriously and then she leaned over to kiss Emma.

 

xxxxxx

 

Regina was right, Henry did warm up to Emma. Although, in the end, Marian was the one to thank for that development.

 

Well, sort of.

 

Henry had a cat. A black cat with white paws oddly named Spot for a reason that Emma could not discern. Spot lived at Marian’s house. Spot was supposed to be an indoor cat. Except Spot fancied herself an escape artist. An escape artist that liked to climb trees and get stuck.

 

The funny thing was - Spot was not the first cat that Emma had rescued since taking the deputy job three months ago. In a small town like Storybrooke, rescuing cats was an oddly frequent call. So, when the call about Spot came in during a Saturday shift a few weeks after Emma had met Henry for the first time, she did not think much of it. She didn’t even think much of it when David said that she’d been specially requested for this job - she just assumed that he was trying to get out of cat rescue duty.

 

It wasn’t until Marian was opening the door and ushering Emma and Mulan into the backyard and over to where Henry was standing looking up at a tall tree that Emma clued in that maybe David hadn’t been lying about the special request. Although, she doubted Henry was the one who’d asked for her.

 

“Are you going to get her down?” Henry eyed Emma skeptically, clearly not all that pleased by her presence.

 

Technically they weren’t supposed to climb trees. They were supposed to try other means of cat rescue. And if they _did_ have to climb, they were supposed to use a harness. But Emma didn’t really care about protocol. Not when it was Henry’s cat that needed rescuing. “Yes,” she assured him confidently and moved over towards the tree, immediately beginning her climb.

 

“What are you doing?” Mulan called warily to her, stopping at the base of tree beside Marian.

 

Hanging from a tree branch, Emma looked back at her partner, “Don’t worry about it, I’ve got this.”

 

Mulan looked disapproving, but she also didn’t try and stop Emma.

 

Spot had climbed high. _Really_ high. Emma didn’t really realize how high, until she was balanced precariously on a flimsy tree branch, the cat in her arms, looking down at Henry and Marian and Mulan who looked itty bitty from this vantage point. She frowned at Marian and Mulan, who were standing close together and chatting, not even looking up at the tree. At least Henry was still watching. “I’ve got her,” Emma called down.

 

“Good job,” Mulan looked away from Marian to shoot Emma a thumbs up that was most certainly sarcastic even though Emma couldn’t see her facial expression. “Just be careful coming down,” Mulan added.

 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Emma called, already beginning her careful descent.

 

The descent was much slower than the climb, especially with a cat cradled in one arm, but it was going relatively well. Well, it was until she was nearly down and she heard a crack and then the branch she was standing on was breaking away from the tree and she was falling, falling, falling.

 

Worried about crushing the cat in her arms, she cradled Spot to her chest, and tried to rotate herself so she’d land on her back. It worked. Sort of. The back of her head seemed to take the brunt of the fall and then everything was black.

 

xxxxxx

 

When her eyes re-opened, three people were hovering over her looking worried. She groaned and tried to sit up.

 

“Don’t move,” Mulan said, kneeling beside her, hands reaching out to check for injuries.

 

Emma ignored the instruction, still trying to sit up.

 

“Stop moving,” Mulan snapped, one hand on Emma’s chest now, holding her down, “I’m calling an ambulance.”

 

“I’m calling Regina,” Marian added.

 

“I’m fine,” Emma tried to insist but she shut up when they both shot her terrifying looks.

 

“Are you going to stop trying to move now?” Mulan narrowed her eyes at Emma, the cell phone already up near her ear.

 

“Yes,” Emma agreed, mostly because the shock of the fall was wearing off a bit and she was starting to realize that things hurt.

 

Mulan shot her a _you’d better_ look and then she stood, wandering a few feet away, snapping urgent instructions to the operator on the other end of the phone.  

 

Marian, also on the phone, wasn’t looking at Emma any longer either but there was still a pair of eyes fixed firmly on her face.  

Henry’s eyes were wide, filled with an emotion that Emma couldn’t quite place. Shock, maybe? “You got Spot,” he practically whispered, arms reaching down to take the cat away from Emma.

 

The cat that Emma hadn’t even realized she was still cradling to her chest, meowed in protest as Henry tried to lift her up.

 

“It’s okay Spot,” Henry said, “you’re okay now.” His brow furrowed as the cat squirmed in his arms, managing to break free.

 

Emma groaned. If that cat climbed back up the tree after she’d nearly killed herself rescuing her, Emma was going to be very unhappy. The cat didn’t make a break for the tree though, instead, strangely, Spot curled up beside Emma.

 

“Huh,” Henry said, his head tilting as he looked down at Emma and his cat, “Spot likes you.” He sounded surprised. “Spot doesn’t like anybody but me and Mama. She doesn’t even like Mommy….Spot must know you saved her from the tree.”

 

Henry crouched down beside Emma, stroking Spot with one hand, his other hand reaching out to rest on Emma’s arm. “Are you hurt really bad?” he asked softly, hesitantly.

 

“Nah, I’m okay kid,” Emma assured, which she hoped was true. Her head sort of felt like it was going to explode. But Henry wasn’t looking at her like she was the scum of the earth, he was looking at her with something that seemed like admiration. So what if her head might be irreparably broken? It was totally worth it.

 

xxxxxx

 

“You idiot!” Regina shouted as she rushed into the hospital room that they’d settled Emma into, looking positively frantic.

 

Emma winced at the volume.

 

“What were you thinking?!” the volume of Regina’s voice didn’t get any lower. “You could have been killed!”

 

Emma winced again. “I’m fine Regina,” she insisted.

 

“ _Fine_?!” Regina shook her head as she stopped at the edge of Emma’s bed, hand reaching out to settle on Emma’s forearm, gripping it tightly, “you’re in the hospital.”

 

“It’s just a concussion,” Emma protested.

 

Brown eyes bore into her, worry flickering across Regina’s face, as the hand on Emma’s forearm traced a gentle pattern. After several minutes of silence, Regina repeated her previous, “you could have been killed,” only much more softly, the fear plainly evident now.

 

Emma sighed softly, “I’m sorry.”

 

“Good. You should be,” Regina nodded and then she leaned over and pressed her lips to Emma’s.

 

xxxxxx

 

Sometime later, after Regina had climbed up onto the hospital bed and Emma had curled up in her arms, there was a knock on the door and then Henry was poking his head into the room, Marian following behind him.

 

Emma struggled in Regina’s arms, trying to put distance between them, sure that she wouldn't want Henry to see them like this, but Regina just held her tighter, whispering in her ear, “Stop,” and Emma listened, her struggling ceasing immediately.

 

“Sorry to intrude,” Marian said, her hand on Henry’s shoulder, “but Henry was rather insistent that we come check on you.”

 

Regina nodded, motioning with her head for Henry to come over, which he did instantly, bounding over to the edge of the bed to the side nearest Emma. With a sheet of paper clutched in his hands, he looked up at Emma with wide eyes.

 

“Hi Henry,” Emma smiled over at him.

 

Henry frowned but it wasn't the same angry frown he usually directed at Emma, this was a worried frown, “You said you weren't really hurt but now you're in the hospital.”

 

Emma bit her lip, frowning too. She glanced over at Regina, not sure what she was supposed to say here.

 

“Emma hit her head when she fell out of the tree,” Regina explained to Henry carefully, “the doctors just want her to stay here tonight so that they can keep an eye on her. She is going to be okay.”

 

“Okay,” Henry nodded seriously, his frown easing, and then he thrust his hands forward, holding out the piece of cardboard in his hands for Emma to take, “I made this for you.”

 

Emma smiled, reaching over to take the sheet from Henry. It was a drawing of a tree, and a black cat with white paws, and a blonde haired person. It said Get Well Soon. Henry had also scrawled his name at the bottom.

 

“It's you and Spot,” Henry offered as way of explanation.

 

Emma smiled wider, looking back over at Henry, “thank you. I love it.” And she really did. She held it out so that Regina could look, “See?”

 

Regina smiled softly, “I do. It's very nice.”

 

Marian, still standing near the doorway, cleared her throat, “We should go, Henry. Emma needs to rest.”

 

Henry looked like he might protest but both Marian and Regina shot him looks that suggested that that would be a bad idea and, so, he just moved back over to Marian.

 

“I'll see you on Monday, Henry,” Regina told him, “Have a good night. Love you.”

 

“Love you too,” Henry nodded.

 

“Feel better,” Marian told Emma before ushering Henry towards the door. Or at least trying to.

 

Henry stopped and turned back around. “Hey Emma? When you feel better do you think we could go to that dinosaur museum?”

 

Emma’s heart did a flip and she smiled, “Yeah sure, you got it kid.”

 

xxxxxx

 

Things got better after that. Henry stopped scowling so much and seemed to start actually enjoying being around Emma.

 

Emma, it turned out, much to Henry’s delight, was much more willing to indulge his desire to catch frogs, and snakes, and slimy worms than either of his mothers. So, she became, almost, his partner in crime, his friend more than anything, which was fine - he already had two mothers, he didn't need a third.

 

Emma was just happy that he'd stopped scowling at her. She was just happy to have any role in his life at all. Because loving Regina meant loving Henry too. And, well, loving Henry was just as easy as loving his mother.

 

xxxxxx

 

The first time Emma and Henry said _I love_ , it was Henry’s seventh birthday.

 

Henry conked out on the couch after the guests had left, one of the two lightsabers Emma had bought him still clutched tightly in his hand. Emma was strangely proud that the lightsabers _she'd_ bought were Henry’s favourite gift, despite the fact that he'd gotten significantly more expensive gifts from his mothers - a new bike and a telescope.

 

“Too much sugar,” Regina tsk’d, watching Henry with a fond smile. She started moving towards the couch but Emma stopped her.

 

“I've got this.”

 

“Are you sure?” Regina tilted her head.

 

“Mmhm,” Emma nodded, scooping Henry up carefully into her arms.

 

“Thanks,” Regina smiled fondly, kissing Henry’s forehead as Emma paused beside her.

 

Emma carried Henry carefully up the stairs and deposited him gently onto his bed. As carefully as possible she pried the lightsaber from his hands.

 

Henry stirred just as Emma was covering him with the comforter. “Emma?” he mumbled sleepily.

 

“Sshh,” Emma hummed, smoothing the blanket over his chest, “Sleep.”

 

Henry smiled, “I had the best birthday.”

 

“I'm glad, kid,” Emma smiled too, leaning down and kissing his forehead, “Goodnight.”

 

Henry smiled wider, his eyes sliding back shut as he mumbled, “Love you, Emma.”

 

Emma's heart did approximately seven flips at those words. “I love you too, kid,” she whispered fondly, leaning down to kiss his forehead once more.

 

xxxxxx

 

One night when Emma and Regina had been dating almost six months, Emma and Henry were play sword fighting with his lightsabers in the backyard after having been kicked out of the kitchen for being too disruptive to the dinner making process - a fairly common occurrence.

 

They ended up in a heap on the ground, Emma tickling Henry’s side until he was shrieking with laughter, “Enough, enough.”

 

Emma laughed, lying back in the grass. She stared up at the sky as Henry curled up beside her, his giggled dying down.

 

“Hey Emma?” Henry asked after several minutes of comfortable silence.

 

“Yeah kid?” Emma said, still staring up at the sky.

 

“What’s a stepmom?”

 

Emma froze, her heart suddenly hammering loudly in her chest. She propped herself up on one elbow so that she could see Henry’s face. “Why do you ask?” she said as carefully as she could manage.

 

“Jake at school says he has a stepmom,” Henry shrugged, pushing himself up into a seated position, “Because his dad got married to someone who isn't his mom.”

 

Emma pushed herself up into a seated position as well, gnawing her lip as she watched Henry carefully. “Oh well...that’s all a stepmom is, I guess,” she finally said, “a person who marries one of your parents.”

 

Henry’s brow crinkled, “Well are you going to be my stepmom?”

 

Emma swallowed thickly, her hand rubbing the back of her neck. This conversation was getting more and more uncomfortable. Maybe she should go get Regina? But Henry was watching her expectantly, so she said uncertainly, “Umm...I’m not sure Henry. Probably not?”

 

“Why not?” Henry’s eyes flashed hurt, “Do you not want to be my stepmom?”

 

“No, no, no,” Emma shook her head rapidly, rushing to fix whatever mistake she had just made, “I’d love to be your stepmom, Henry. You’re great. And I love you. Being your stepmom would be absolutely awesome. It’s not that I don’t want to be.”

 

Henry smiled but after a beat he asked, “But how come you can’t be my stepmom then?”

 

Emma resisted the urge to sigh, taking a deep breath instead. “It’s just...I don’t think your mom wants to get married again.”

 

“Why not?” Henry prodded, this time the question just curious, nothing more.

 

“She’s already been married,” Emma shrugged, picking at the grass, hoping that that would be answer enough for Henry because she wasn't sure how much else she could tell a seven year old.

 

The truth was, it was complicated but Emma was sure that Regina had little interest in marrying her. She’d made enough disparaging remarks about weddings for Emma to have picked up on that much. And she was okay with that. She didn’t _need_ a wedding. No matter how much a nagging voice in the back of her head wondered if a piece of paper that tied her to this family would make her feel less like the other shoe was still waiting to drop. Yes, nagging voice be damned, she didn’t _need_ a piece of paper. She was happy with what they had. Would be happy with it for however long she got to keep it. And if that didn’t end up being forever, well it wouldn’t be as if she didn’t already expect that. A piece of paper wouldn’t change anything.

 

“ _So_?” Henry interrupted Emma’s thoughts with a look that suggested he couldn't figure out her logic. “You should ask her,” he added brightly after a beat, smiling at Emma, “I bet she would say yes. And then you could be my stepmom.”

 

If only it were that easy, Emma thought. She reached over and ruffled his hair, “I don’t know. We’ll see, kid.”

 

“Just think about it!” He added with extra enthusiasm.

 

Emma couldn’t help but smile at that, “I will.” Thinking about it didn't mean doing anything about it.

 

“Good,” he beamed.

 

And then Regina was calling them into the house for dinner.

 

xxxxxx

 

Later that night, curled up in bed beside Regina, Emma thought about the conversation she’d had with Henry earlier. Thought about bringing it up to Regina now. But she didn't want to hear Regina confirm that she didn't want to get married ever again. And she certainly didn't want to rock the boat. Didn't want to risk the other shoe dropping when she was so happy. Happier than she'd ever been.

 

“What are you thinking so hard about?” Regina asked, clearing sensing that Emma was distracted.

 

“Nothing,” Emma shook her head, shaking the thoughts away. “Absolutely nothing,” she repeated, curling up closer to Regina, her arm draped over Regina’s stomach, her head resting on Regina’s shoulder.

 

Regina seemed suspicious but after a minute she just sighed softly and said, “Okay,” tugging Emma even closer to her, rubbing her back until Emma was drifting off to dreamland.

 

xxxxxx

 

Emma had almost forgotten about her conversation with Henry when, a little over a month later, she was waving goodbye to him and Marian and Mulan, who were heading off on a camping trip.

 

She liked to take full credit for Marian and Mulan’s relationship. It was her misadventure with a tree that had brought them together, after all. Mulan tended to just roll her eyes whenever Emma suggested that - though admittedly that might be because the suggestion usually only came whenever the last donut was at stake.

 

“Don't do anything I wouldn't do,” she teased Mulan.

 

Mulan poked her head out of the driver’s side window and smirked, “Like climb trees?”

 

Regina laughed from beside Emma, “That's correct.”

 

“Mean,” Emma pouted.

 

“But true,” Marian grinned, climbing into the passenger seat of the car.

 

Emma’s scowl eased when Regina’s arm snaked around her waist. “Have fun,” she called to Henry who was waving out the window as the car pulled out of the driveway.

 

Once it was out of sight she turned to look at Regina, leaning over to kiss her quickly. “So what do _you_ want to do this weekend?”

 

Regina just smirked coyly, “I've got some plans.”

 

Emma waggled her eyebrows, “Oh you do, do you?”

 

Regina laughed but then she pressed her lips back to Emma's in a searing kiss. “I do,” she said seriously when she finally pulled back.

 

xxxxxx

 

Regina plans turned out to be _actual_ plans.

 

“Regina?” Emma asked confused as they drove in the opposite direction of town, “I thought we were going to dinner?”

 

“We are,” Regina nodded, her expression giving nothing away.

 

“Ummm….but restaurants are in the other direction? You aren't like, taking me to the forest to murder me, are you? Because Mulan just saw me with you like an hour and a half ago. You're definitely going to be suspect number one,” Emma joked.

 

Regina rolled her eyes but her expression gave away that she was actually amused. “I'm not going to murder you.”

 

“I don't know. I think that's what someone who was going to murder me would say,” Emma pretended to be suspicious.

 

Regina laughed, “Just trust me, would you?”

 

xxxxxx

 

There was no restaurant in the middle of the forest but there was a picnic table by the river and twinkling lights strung from the trees above it.

 

The table was set with fancy linen, and real plates, and wine.

 

There was food too. Food that was still warm, so Regina must have had a co-conspirator in setting this whole thing up, but whoever had helped was nowhere in sight now.

 

Emma was speechless. Not for the first time since she'd started dating Regina, she wondered how she'd gotten so lucky.

 

Regina kissed her cheek. “See? I told you to trust me,” she teased.

 

Emma smiled, slow and soft. “I _do_ trust you,” she said, the words coming out serious despite Regina’s teasing. She had _never_ trusted anyone the way she trusted Regina. “I love you,” she whispered, still smiling as she leaned over and pressed her lips to Regina’s in a soft kiss.

 

xxxxxx

 

Emma sighed in content as she removed the napkin from her lap and folded it onto the table. “That was _amazing_ ,” she sighed contently.

 

“I’m glad you think so,” Regina smiled, clearly pleased. She reached across the table, taking Emma's hands in hers and squeezing gently. She just stared and stared and stared for what felt like forever. “Do you know how much I love you?”

 

Emma tilted her head at the curious phrasing but she smiled, “I love you too.”

 

Regina shook her head, like she was amused by something that Emma didn't understand, her eyes shimmering with love and fondness. “Marry me,” she breathed out, so soft and so hopeful.

 

Emma froze, her eyes widening in surprise. She hadn't heard that correctly, had she?

 

“Emma,” Regina started again, with purpose, like maybe she'd practiced this, “when I met you that first day you started in the Sheriff’s department, I wasn't looking for another relationship. I was content to spend the rest of my life as Henry’s mom. As mayor of Storybrooke. It was enough. It could have been enough. But then there you were...charming and kind and sweet...and sometimes idiotic but in endearing ways. And so quickly I couldn't imagine my life without you. I _can't_ imagine my life without.”

 

 _Wait_. Was this a real actual proposal? It couldn't be, could it? Emma swallowed thickly, forcing down the lump that was forming in her throat, her heart hammering impossible loudly as Regina continued.

 

“Please marry me,” Regina said and then she slipped one hand out of Emma's so that she could slid it into her pocket and pull out a ring.

 

Emma's widened even further at the ring. This wasn't just a proposal it was a _planned_ proposal. And, okay, the very romantic dinner should probably have made that clear, but she wasn't exactly thinking clearly at the moment. She opened and closed her mouth several times but words didn't seem to want to come out. All she was able to manage was, “But, but, but-”

 

“I know, I know,” Regina said, “I know I said that being married once was enough. But, Emma, I cringe every time I have to call you my girlfriend when the word I want to use is _wife_. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. And I'm sorry if that wasn't clear.”

 

Emma's heart was still hammering against her ribs and her eyes were suddenly shimmering with unshed tears that she had to bite her lip to keep from spilling over.

 

“So what do you say?” Regina asked less certainly now, looking nervous for the first time since she'd taken Emma's hands, “Will you be my wife?”

 

“Yes,” Emma whispered, finally finding her voice, and then she was standing and moving around the table. “Yes, yes, yes,” she repeated, pulled Regina up off of the picnic table, wrapping her arms around her and crashing their lips together.

 

xxxxxx

 

Later, back at the manor, curled up on the couch together, Emma twisted the ring on her finger and said, “You know. Henry said I should propose to you.”

 

“I know.”

 

Emma pulled herself up, so that she could look at Regina curiously, “You do?”

 

“He told me,” Regina smirked, “He also told me that you were too chicken to ask, so I was going to have to do it.”

 

“ _Seriously?_ ” Emma's eyebrows arched towards her hairline.

 

Regina laughed, “Was he wrong?”

 

“I wasn't chicken,” Emma grumbled, even if it was sort of true.

 

“Mmhm, if you say so, dear,” Regina laughed again, patting Emma's knee.

 

“You're mean,” Emma pretended to pout.

 

Regina just shook her head and leaned over and kissed Emma. And, well, it was hard to be pretend angry when Regina was kissing her.

 

Emma sighed contently when Regina pulled back and she resettled her head on Regina’s shoulder. “This is all I've ever wanted, you know,” she said quietly.

 

“To get married?” Regina asked curiously, sounding a little surprised.

 

“No,” Emma shook her head but she didn't look up at Regina, the moment too vulnerable for that, “To have a family. You. Henry. It's more than I thought I'd ever get. And maybe Henry was right...I was too chicken to ask you to marry me. Because I was afraid you would say no. And because...everything is so good...sometimes it's hard not to worry about the other shoe dropping.”

 

Regina stroked her hair gently. “I can't promise everything is going to always be perfect just because we're married. That's not how things work. But I love you, Emma. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. And that means I'm willing to work through whatever comes our way. Together.” She nudged Emma's side until Emma was sitting up looking at her, and then she repeated, “I love you,” her voice thick with emotion, like those were the only words that mattered. And maybe they were.

 

Emma smiled, “I love you.”

 

And then they were kissing again.

 

xxxxxx

 

On Sunday night when Mulan’s car pulled into the manor driveway, Emma watched out of the front window as Henry darted out of the back of the car and literally ran up the steps to the manor, flinging the front door open.

 

“Mommy! Emma!” He called loudly and he practically bounced excitedly in place, vibrating with energy, when they stepped into the entryway to greet him. “Did you say yes?” he asked eagerly, his eyes on Emma.

 

Emma didn't have to guess what he was referring to. She bobbed her head in confirmation.

 

The grin that spread across Henry’s face lit up his entire face and then he was bounding forward, practically tackling her in his rush to hug her.

 

“You're gonna be my stepmom,” he pulled back from the hug just enough to grin up at her.

 

“I can't wait,” Emma smiled fondly down at him, her heart fluttering happily. She didn't know how they'd gotten from the boy sitting across from her with a scowl on his face to _this_ but she was so so happy that they had.

 

Regina moved closer, one hand settling on the small of Emma's back and the other on Henry’s shoulder and she smiled that fond smile of hers at the two of them and Emma was suddenly feeling choked up.

 

The moment was interrupted by a knock on the door and then Marian and Mulan were walking in, Mulan carrying Henry’s backpack.

 

“I hear congratulations are in order,” Marian smiled as she stopped in the entranceway.

 

Regina and Emma and Henry broke apart, although Regina’s hand remained on the small of Emma's back.

 

Emma glanced between Regina and Henry and Mulan and Marian. “Wait,” she grumbled, as things clicked into place, “Did everyone know about this before me?”

 

“It's practically all Henry wanted to talk about all weekend,” Mulan laughed.

 

Emma shook her head but she couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled out of her chest too. It was impossible to be even pretend annoyed when she was so happy.

 

“Plus who do you think dropped the food off for your outdoor dinner?” Marian quirked an eyebrow, teasing, “It's not as if Regina has any other friends but us.”

 

Emma just laughed harder at that, reminded of something she’d thought many times over the last seven months - Marian and Regina were _definitely_ the most oddly amicable divorced couple she'd ever met. She couldn't say that that was upsetting though. It was the opposite, really. It was nice. Like she was somehow gaining more family than just Regina and Henry.

 

xxxxxx

 

The next months were spent planning the wedding. They agreed easily on a small backyard thing. It felt like the right kind of wedding for _them_.

 

It was important to both of them that Henry be included in the ceremony in some way and, after some debate about _how_ , they decided to ask him to walk Regina down the aisle.

 

His reaction was unexpected to say the least.

 

At first he bobbed his head eagerly but then he frowned, “But who’s going to walk Emma down the aisle?”

 

‘Oh, umm,” Emma hesitated, rubbing the back of her neck, “I wasn't going to walk down the aisle. I was just going to wait at the front for your mom.”

 

“But you _have_ to walk down the aisle,” Henry insisted seriously.

 

“Umm…” Emma looked over to Regina for help. Not sure how to say _there's no one to walk me_ in a not awkward way.

 

“Henry…” Regina said carefully, “If Emma doesn't want to walk down the aisle, she doesn't have to.”

 

But Henry was nothing if not stubborn and he wouldn't just let it go. “But how come you won't tell me _why_.”

 

“Because I don't have any family,” Emma sighed, and it sounded just as awkward as she thought it would.

 

Henry's brow furrowed, like that made little sense to him. “But you _do_ have family.”

 

It was Emma's turn to frown uncertainly.

 

“Me and mommy,” Henry clarified, like that should have been obvious.

 

Emma's eyes widened in surprise. It was how she thought of Regina and Henry but she hadn't realized that Henry thought the same thing. Her heart did a happy flip at the realization.

 

Regina smiled fondly, reaching over and ruffling Henry’s hair, “You're right, Henry.” She took Emma's hand, squeezing gently, before she continued, “But what Emma meant was that she doesn't have anyone to walk her down the aisle.”

 

“Oh,” Henry said and then he smiled brightly, eagerly, “I can do it!”

 

Emma's eyes widened in surprise once more and she couldn't quite figure out what to say to that.

 

“I'll walk you down the aisle. And then I'll go get mommy and walk her down the aisle,” Henry laid out his plan, still grinning.

 

Emma looked over at Regina, wondering what she thought of this idea.

 

Regina just smiled, squeezing the hand she was still holding in encouragement.

 

Emma's heart did another flip and she looked back over at Henry. “I think you have the best ideas, Henry,” she said, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

 

“It's true,” he giggled.

 

xxxxxx

 

Two months later, Emma rocked nervously on the balls of her feet, Henry at her side.

 

“Ready?” Henry whispered to her as the music Regina had picked out started.

 

“Ready,” Emma confirmed, even though the butterflies were going wild in her stomach.

 

Henry bobbed his head once, seriously, and then they were moving down the aisle.

 

The people seated in their backyard were all a blur and even though she was sure she was going to trip, somehow they made it to the front in one piece.

 

Henry kissed her hand and then he scampered back down the aisle, practically running in his excitement to retrieve Regina.

 

Emma watched him go until he was out of site, around the side of the house, and only then, did her eyes sweep the crowd.

 

Marian shot her a thumbs up from her seat beside Mulan and Emma gave her a nervous smile. The butterflies in her stomach doing double time now.

 

And then Henry reappeared with Regina, breathtakingly beautiful, clutching his arm.

 

And Emma couldn’t hear the music anymore over the thumping of her heart in her ears. And the only thing she could see was _them_ walking towards her. As if the whole world had been reduced to her about to be wife, and her about to be stepson, and her.

 

And, for the first time since she was six years old, _Happily Ever After_ actually felt like something Emma was going to have.


End file.
